


Starbright

by whelvenwings



Category: Supernatural
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-03
Updated: 2015-07-03
Packaged: 2018-04-07 13:25:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4264848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whelvenwings/pseuds/whelvenwings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The scent of smoke hung heavy in the air. Whipcrack bangs and keening screeches echoed around the dark glade, sending sparks flying across the sky. Dean tensed, his heartbeat speeding and his hands clenched, nails digging into his palms.<br/>“Dean?” Cas said quietly, letting his fingertips graze the back of one of Dean’s tight fists as he turned. He was leaning in close, so that Dean could hear him over all the noise. “Is everything alright?”<br/>------------------------<br/>Dean's struggling to deal with the flashes and bangs of fireworks, but Cas is there to help.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Starbright

The scent of smoke hung heavy in the air. Whipcrack bangs and keening screeches echoed around the dark glade, sending sparks flying across the sky. Dean tensed, his heartbeat speeding and his hands clenched, nails digging into his palms.

“Dean?” Cas said quietly, letting his fingertips graze the back of one of Dean’s tight fists as he turned. He was leaning in close, so that Dean could hear him over all the noise. “Is everything alright?”

Dean turned to look at him, his eyes wide. Seeing his expression, Cas reached out a hand and gripped his arm, holding him steady.

“Everything is fine,” Cas said, and Dean could hear him making his voice deliberately slow and calm. He tried to breathe more easily, but the bangs and screams were sending panic signals straight from his unconscious mind to his body, making him shake.

“Christ,” he managed with a thin smile, around the lump of terror in his throat. “What the hell? They’re only freaking fireworks.”

“Your body is having a nervous reaction due to past trauma,” Cas said, still speaking in that same low, steady voice. The crush of the crowd around them heaved and pushed, gasping as the rockets whizzed up into the sky and exploded in gunfire shots and bursts of stars.

 _No shit,_ Dean would have liked to say, but an especially loud  _crack_ and spray of sparks locked his jaw closed. He was breaking into a sweat now. His vision was starting to swim a little, too – was he going to pass out, or –  _crap_ – was he going to cry? Damn his brother for convincing him to come along to this stupid Summer Solstice fireworks night. They would  _not_ be coming again next year.

He looked at Cas, struck mute and spiralling out. Cas, who was watching the lights flaring across the clear night sky, transferred his gaze back to Dean. His features went taut with concern.

“Dean, everything is fine,” he repeated. “We can leave, if you need?”

Dean glanced over Cas’ shoulder, where Sam was standing and grinning up at the lightshow, blissfully unaware of Dean’s freak-out. Dean shook his head violently, pressing his lips together to stop them trembling. He flinched as the next bout of explosions started, ringing unbearably loudly through his whole body; Cas reached up and, before Dean could jerk away, placed his hands over Dean’s ears.

Immediately, the sound of the fireworks was hushed. Cas’ hands were warm, somehow, despite the coldness of the night; angel mojo, probably, Dean thought thickly. He should really push Cas’ hands away, but they were calming his heartbeat and if he was going to get through another ten minutes of this fireworks show… he was going to need them. Dean looked into Cas’ eyes, and saw no judgement, no pity. He let out a slow, shaky exhale. This was fine. This was good. He would be OK.

“Better?” Cas said, his voice barely a gnat-song through the comforting protection of his steady hands. Dean opened his mouth to speak, but found he still couldn’t; instead, he nodded uncertainly. His breathing was evening out, but with Cas’ hands wrapped over his ears and nowhere to look but his friend’s face, he felt… awkward, and useless. His own hands were hanging pointlessly down by his sides, seeming huge and clumsy.

A huge  _bang_ lit up the sky with multi-coloured flares of light, and even the unruffled Cas jumped a little in shock. Instinctively, as though he’d been waiting for the cue, Dean raised his hands and put them protectively over Cas’ ears, mirroring Cas’ pose perfectly. Dean expected Cas to frown in protest, or at the very least to smirk at Dean’s ridiculous desire to protect something that clearly didn’t need any protecting – but instead, Cas’ face went suddenly soft. He even tilted his head a little to the left, letting the heel of Dean’s hand cup his cheek. His eyes were on Dean’s, barely blinking and never looking away. Dean swallowed, his eyes wide, and for quite a different reason now.

“I can see the fireworks in your eyes,” Cas mouthed, his lips turning upwards as he stared. Dean smiled back and nodded, Cas’ fingers stroking through his hair when he moved. The sparks and lights were reflected in Cas’ eyes, too, but all Dean could see was their natural blue, drowning out all the other colours. They were starbright without trying, more beautiful than any artifice.

In the quiet world inside Cas’ hands, Dean could hear his own heartbeat, thumping profound and strong as he looked, and looked, and looked – and Cas looked right back. They’d never stared at each other like this, so unashamedly, without speaking; just looking at Cas sent a little frisson of happiness up Dean’s spine, a firework of his own that burst into warmth inside his chest. As though he’d felt the sparks ricochet, Cas shivered slightly and smiled. He moved a little nearer, closing the gap between them so that their chests were almost touching.

Above them, the fireworks continued to crash, but Dean barely noticed them. He was lost in the tranquillity of Cas’ touch, his unending gaze, his nearness. He breathed out as Cas breathed in, the simple intimacy drying his throat with a sudden, fierce desire – Cas must have seen his expression shift, because his eyelids lowered and his lips parted, ever so slightly. Dean’s skin was immediately afire. His cheeks reddened and a shiver ran all the way down his back, settling low around his hips and prickling there with sudden hunger. He swayed towards Cas, ever so slightly; Cas’ eyes narrowed, still not blinking, drinking Dean in. The moment was thick with possibility, hot and urgent. Cas glanced down at Dean’s lips.

It was all it took. Dean surged forwards at the same time as Cas moved too, their lips meeting. Hands buried in Cas’ hair, Dean let out a soft moan at the feel of Cas’ mouth against his own, firm and steady. Feeling the vibration, Cas smiled against Dean’s lips and pressed closer, clenching his fingers ever so slightly and tugging lightly at Dean’s hair. A wave of want washed through Dean, so powerful that he gasped, pulling back; Cas didn’t move away, tilting his chin down so that his forehead rested lightly against Dean’s.

After a few seconds, Dean opened his eyes to find Cas watching him, the fireworks still sending sparks of reflected light rippling over his dark, wide pupils. Dean breathed out, short and sharp, almost a laugh – either in shock, or in wonder, or perhaps a mixture of both. A radiant happiness was building in his chest, too big to contain: it spilled into a grin, which Cas answered with a light stroke of his thumb over Dean’s temple.

“You’re beautiful,” he mouthed, and Dean’s grin wavered as his joy threatened to run into tears.

“You’re…” he began to say back, but couldn’t find a word to express how he felt – Cas’ hands still wrapped over his ears, keeping him safe, and Cas’ chest flush against his own, steadying his heart, and the taste of Cas’ mouth on his lips, still tingling. He shook his head, but Cas smiled and nodded; he understood. Dean leaned in for another kiss, and Cas met him willingly. Losing himself in the moment, surrounded by smoke and crowds that went unnoticed, Dean thought that maybe it wouldn’t be  _so_ bad if they came back next year.


End file.
